The present invention relates to the manufacture of a multiplicity of packages for an individual service portion of a spreadable product, and, more specifically, to certain new and useful improvements in the method and apparatus for manufacturing such packages.
The innovation of xe2x80x9ccompact packages for spreadable productsxe2x80x9d (trademarked as COMPACT REDDIES(trademark)) by this applicant as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,700,532 and 4,720,014 has established the product as a staple package of the United States butter and margerine industry for use by institutions, fast food outlets, hospitals, restaurants, government installations, etc. (Butter will hereinafter be used as the generic term for butter, margerine and all similar spreads).
While this package is about the lowest cost unit of use butter service that is available, it has been competed with by various imitations as well as small individual plastic peel top cups and fully foil wrapped butter pats (or xe2x80x9cpatsxe2x80x9d) known to the trade as xe2x80x9cContinentalsxe2x80x9d. These cups and xe2x80x9cContinientalsxe2x80x9d have perceive advantage of being sealed or totally enclosed packaging.
It is an object of the invention to further significantly reduce the materials cost of compact packages for spreadable products.
It is the further object of this invention to create an advanced trouble free manufacturing system and apparatus for the very high speed production of these low cost compact packages (e.g., 1500 units per minute).
The invention consists of the novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations, steps and improvements herein shown and described.
Briefly described, the present invention is directed to a new and improved method and apparatus for making rigid unitized packages formed from channel members unitized by adherence to four sides of the preferably rectangular product encased by the channel members.
In an aspect of the present invention there includes a machine for producing small or compact packages for spreadable products a pat of spreadable product on a flanged paperboard mat covered by a rectangle or sheet of greaseproof paper including a pivotal clamp mechanism actuated by a fixed cam which causes the clamp to pivot open to receive a card or mat and then releases the clamp which snaps on that card. The clamping may be actuated by a leaf spring. The pivoted clamp mechanism and the leaf spring are mounted on a flight comprise a clamping flight assembly which is in turn mounted on a roller chain. The roller chains is mounted with a series of flights carrying the actuated pivoted clamps and are capable of transporting the cards through a driven rotary scoring and tucking assembly which simultaneously scores and bends said cards into a channel shape with upright flanges. The rotary and scoring assembly is comprised of a pair of upper grooved wheels having a tucking step alongside the groove which are driven at the same peripheral velocity that the cards are being transported at by said clamping flight assemblies.